49ers inform employees that Juneteenth will be an organizational holiday

Per The Athletic’s Matt Barrows tweeted that the San Francisco 49ers sent out a memo Monday telling employees that Friday, June 19, Juneteenth, would be an official holiday. This comes less than a week after the league office declared Juneteenth an official holiday. Half of the league has followed suit since the announcement. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Cel-Liberation Day, is an American holiday celebrated annually on June 19. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free.

This is the second time the 49ers have made an announcement this week. CEO Jed York suggested that the 49ers were interested in making election day a holiday as well. Election day always falls on a Tuesday and is November 3 this year. Tuesdays typically are days off for players during the season anyway. Sometimes there is film mixed in with treatment, but the players’ comeback to the building to practice on Wednesdays.

However, this year the 49ers have a Sunday game at Seattle on November 1 and follow with a Thursday night game against the Green Bay Packers on November 5. With it being a short week, Tuesday turns into a normal “workday.” The 49ers won’t play on the Thursday night of election week every year, but it does make it a notable gesture for the upcoming season.